THE GREATEST LOVE OF ALL

There is yet another Greek word that explains the deep and spiritual meaning of love. The word is agape. Eros produces romance- makes your mate your lover. Philia makes your mate your friend but agape goes far beyond. Agape is a love of total commitment. Agape means Selflessness. Agape is total GIVING LOVE. This is the love God expressed when he have his only begotten Son. He had no self-interest. He was giving the one gift that would make possible the forgiveness of sin and would save mankind. In the human sphere, agape love is thoughtfulness, concern, sensitivity to the needs of others. Agape is not a natural love. We were not born into it. It is not the love of adolescence. Eros is essentially in mankind by creation. Philia comes naturally- we all want friends. AGAPE IS ACQUIRED BY MATURITY. The highest form of love we can attain is a gift that God can give us. The very giving and loving nature of God can be put within human beings by a supernatural miracle. Paul wrote, "...the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us" (Rom.5:5). That is agape love. One has not truly love until that selfless love has been experienced. It is when every desire is for the other person. Jesus said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends"(John15:13). If and when in marriage you come to a point you would give your life for your mate, then and only then have you experienced the penetrating meaning of love. Relevant to agape love in marriage Paul further said in Ephesians5:28-29, "In this same way, husbands ought to love (agape) their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body but he feeds and cares for it just as Christ does the church"(verse25). It is natural to love the self. It is not natural to love someone else that much. God says that we ought to grow in love towards our mates equal to the love we have for ourselves. No one can expect more but so few ever come close. Most are selfish they do not achieve the real depth of love. Too many marriages are based on only one kind of love- eros. That love usually will not hold up under pressure. Sadly, too many marriages don't even have philia love. Some husbands and wives are not even GOOD FRIENDS.